Jackrabbits dig pink vs. Omaha

South Dakota State closed the first half of The Summit
League season over the weekend with a pair of home losses, falling to UMKC on
Friday by a 3-1 score, and to South Dakota on Saturday in five sets. Now after
playing a nonconference match at Northern Iowa on Tuesday, the Jackrabbits
start the second half of league schedule on Friday against Omaha in the annual
Dig Pink match at 7 p.m.

SDSU took a set
from perennial Missouri Valley power Northern Iowa on Tuesday, but eventually
came up on the short end of a 3-1 match against the Panthers in Cedar Falls,
Iowa.

The Jackrabbits
dropped their third straight match by the set scores of 25-13, 25-19, 22-25 and
25-15.

Kelli Fiegen led
the Jackrabbits with 12 kills, adding a match-high six total blocks. Kaitlin
Klingemann finished with 11 kills and a pair of blocks for the Jacks, who
finished with 10 total team blocks.

Shay Birath led the
defense with 28 digs, with Kelly Herrmann adding 15 digs, which leaves her 12
digs shy of reaching the 1,000 dig milestone.

THE JACKRABBIT EXTRA
ON GoJacks.com - Subscribers to the Jackrabbit Extra on GoJacks.com can
watch all SDSU home and select road volleyball matches streaming live on the
internet.

To subscribe to the Jackrabbit Extra, log onto GoJacks.com
and click on "SIGN UP NOW"

THE JACKRABBIT
INSIDER ON FOX - Fans of South Dakota State Athletics can get a weekly
behind-the-scenes look at all 21 Jackrabbit varsity sports teams by tuning into
"The Jackrabbit Insider."

Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the show airs on Sundays on KTTW
FOX 17 at 10:30 p.m., and can also be seen on Fox Sports North at 6 p.m. on
Tuesdays.

FIEGEN CRACKS TOP-10
IN CAREER KILLS - Kelli Fiegen posted 21 kills at Southern Utah on Nov. 3,
2011 to become the 15th member of the SDSU 1,000-Kills Club and just the sixth
member to reach the mark as a junior. Now a senior, Fiegen cracked the all-time
top-10 in the Jacks win over North Dakota State on Sept. 16, and enters the
weekend with 1,315 career kills, good for seventh all-time and 72 shy of
passing Merridee Peterson-Rodel (1,386 kills from 1994-97) for sixth on the
all-time list.

FIEGEN BLOCKS INTO
THE TOP-10 - In addition to her offensive prowess, Kelli Fiegen makes her
defensive mark on the block. The senior enters the weekend ranked ninth
all-time at SDSU with 102 solo blocks and second all-time with 377 block
assists.

KLINGEMANN POISED TO
REACH 1,000 KILL MILESTONE - Kaitlin Klingemann recorded 304 kills in 2011
as a junior, giving her 762 in her career and leaving her 238 kills shy of
becoming the 16th member of the SDSU 1,000-Kills Club. She enters this weekend
with 978 kills, 22 shy of reaching the milestone.

BIRATH CHASING
ALL-TIME DIGS RECORD - Shay Birath became the 13th member of the SDSU
1,000-Digs Club, and just the fifth member of the club to reach the milestone
as a junior, at Oakland on Sept. 24, 2011. She climbed into second all-time on
Sept. 22, in a win over Western Illinois, and enters the weekend with a 1,767
career digs, 163 away from a new school record.

HERRMANN ON PACE TO
JOIN 1,000-DIGS CLUB - After posting more than 300 digs in each of the last
two seasons, Kelly Herrmann entered her senior season 254 digs shy of becoming
the 14th member of the SDSU 1,000-Digs Club. She enters the weekend with 988
digs, 12 shy of the milestone.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

Omaha Mavericks
(6-13, 1-6 Summit) - A loss to the Jackrabbits in the first meeting of the
season on Sept. 14, started a five match losing streak for the Mavericks, whose
only win since playing SDSU came in a 3-2 match at Western Illinois on Sept.
28.

The Series vs. Omaha
- The Mavericks lead the all-time series 34-15, but once led the series 34-5,
as the Jackrabbits won each of the last 11 meetings, including the first
meeting of this season in Omaha. UNO's last win over SDSU came in a 3-2 match
on Nov. 13, 1999 in Omaha.

The First Meeting:
Sept. 14, at Omaha - A balanced offensive attack and a pile of blocks led
the way for South Dakota State to down Omaha 3-0 on both teams Summit League
opener in Omaha, Neb.

The Jackrabbits, who won by the set scores of 25-16, 25-23
and 25-16, improved to 8-3 overall and 1-0 in Summit League play, while the
Mavericks, playing in their first-ever league game, fell to 5-6 overall and to
0-1 in the league.

Bailey Philippot led the Jackrabbits, and tied for
match-high honors, with 10 kills, adding a solo block and four block assists.
Kelli Fiegen and Kelly Herrmann both added seven kills, with Fiegen adding a
solo block and a block assist for the Jacks, who won the blocking battle 11-3.
Herrmann also helped out on defense with 10 digs.

Margit Hansing posted 19 digs to go with her three kills and
two service aces, while Shay Birath led the defense with 20 digs.

Kelley Wollak led the Mavericks with 10 kills. Kimberley
Bailey led the UNO defense with 13 digs.

NEXT UP FOR THE
JACKRABBITS - SDSU returns to the road next weekend for matches at Western
Illinois on Friday and at IUPUI on Saturday. The Jacks beat the Fighting
Leathernecks 3-1 in the first meeting at Frost Arena, but fell in five to the
Jaguars.